TOKYO, Japan — December
3, 2013 — SEMI projects that worldwide sales of new semiconductor
manufacturing equipment will contract 13.3 percent to $32.0 billion in 2013,
according to the SEMI Year-end Forecast, released here today at the annual
SEMICON Japan exposition. In 2014, all regions
except Rest of World are expected to have strong positive growth, resulting in
a global increase of 23.2 percent in sales. 2015 sales are expected to continue
to grow — increasing 2.4 percent with Japan, Europe, Korea, China, and Rest of
World regions registering positive growth.

The
SEMI Year-end Forecast predicts that wafer processing equipment, the largest
product segment by dollar value, is anticipated to decrease 10.7 percent in
2013 to total $25.1 billion, on par with 2004 spending levels. The forecast
predicts that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will decline by
22.1 percent to $2.4 billion in 2013. The market for semiconductor test
equipment is forecasted to decline by 20.7 percent, reaching $2.8 billion this
year. The “Other Front End” category (fab facilities, mask/reticle, and wafer
manufacturing equipment) is expected in decrease 25.2 percent in 2013.

Korea,
Taiwan, and North America remain the largest spending regions, though of the
three only Taiwan is expected to show an increase in spending for 2013.
According to SEMI, in 2013, Taiwan will reach equipment sales of $10.2 billion,
with North American sales totaling $5.7 billion and Korea sales registering
$5.5 billion. Regions experiencing the steepest declines in spending in 2013
include: Korea, North America, and Europe. The equipment market in Rest of
World, primarily Southeast Asia, is expected to increase 3.2 percent.

The
following results are given in terms of market size in billions of U.S. dollars
and percentage growth over the prior year:

Note: Totals and percentages may differ due to rounding of
numbers

The Equipment Market
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provides an outlook for the semiconductor equipment market. For more
information or to subscribe, please contact SEMI customer service at
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Callers).

SEMI
is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics
manufacturing supply chains. Our 1,900 member companies are the engine of the
future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve our
lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more
profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI
maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu,
Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.
For more information, visit www.semi.org